Posted by MikeT23 on 7/23/2013 11:09:00 AM (view original):Honestly, there were dozens of times in college where I had to decide on paying rent or eating something more substantial than rice for the next week. Taking a grand would have been an easy choice.

But you survived without the extra $1000, right?

Are you saying that, in college, you would have taken the guaranteed $1,000 instead of the 50/50 shot at $100,000?

Also, you went to college???

What part of "Taking a grand would have been an easy choice" was too complicated to comprehend?

For someone saying "****, I have $23.63 left after I pay my bills. Is that enough to last two weeks?", a grand might as well be a million.

But it's not a million. You'd likely be in the exact same position in a few months if you take the $1,000. Or you could take a 50/50 shot at significantly changing your financial outlook for the a long time.

No, it's $1000. Or about $976.37 more than I had. If you've ever been flatass broke, you'd understand. People live that way every day for their entire lives. Obviously you haven't had to do it so there's no amount of "debate" that will make you understand.

Posted by MikeT23 on 7/23/2013 11:09:00 AM (view original):Honestly, there were dozens of times in college where I had to decide on paying rent or eating something more substantial than rice for the next week. Taking a grand would have been an easy choice.

But you survived without the extra $1000, right?

Are you saying that, in college, you would have taken the guaranteed $1,000 instead of the 50/50 shot at $100,000?

Also, you went to college???

What part of "Taking a grand would have been an easy choice" was too complicated to comprehend?

For someone saying "****, I have $23.63 left after I pay my bills. Is that enough to last two weeks?", a grand might as well be a million.

But it's not a million. You'd likely be in the exact same position in a few months if you take the $1,000. Or you could take a 50/50 shot at significantly changing your financial outlook for the a long time.

No, it's $1000. Or about $976.37 more than I had. If you've ever been flatass broke, you'd understand. People live that way every day for their entire lives. Obviously you haven't had to do it so there's no amount of "debate" that will make you understand.

Yes. BL, there were definitely a few times in my life where I would have taken the grand. Be thankful you haven't been in that situation.

Posted by tecwrg on 7/23/2013 1:24:00 PM (view original):Exactly. Everybody's threshold for when they would take the guarantee versus going for the gamble is going to be different, because everybody has their own unique set of personal circumstances.

What's right for one person may not be right for another. But it's pretty stupid to characterize somebody else's choice as "not in their right mind" because it doesn't coincide with yours.

I also think it's pretty stupid to start a semantic argument over a common expression. Then again, you are the guy that is perfectly OK with gays getting equal rights in ever way with the sole exception being the ability to use the word "marriage."

Ok, sure. If I can convince my landlord that I can pay rent up front for the rest of the year in 3 months, I'd take the $100k. You're also talking about a guarantee on much more money. And yes, there are PLENTY of people who need the money immediately.